Yoda wrote:If you are putting up Bailey, Hughes and Gallardo, then you most definitely need to put Lincecum, Miller, who are on a faster track to joining their big clubs.

Yup, those are also guys to tack onto the list. Do you happen to know if either of them (or Pelfrey, for that matter) is slated to be in the rotation to start the year (or has a chance of winning a spot in ST)?

I think Linc will start at AA, Miller at AAA. Both will probably need some fine tuning to start the season and then join the big team by July. Unless Linc is lights out in ST and all SF starters are sucking big time which is highly unlikely.

Any idea on whether a Benitez injury/trade would make the Giants do something crazy like bringing up Lincecum to close?

Yoda wrote:If you are putting up Bailey, Hughes and Gallardo, then you most definitely need to put Lincecum, Miller, who are on a faster track to joining their big clubs.

Yup, those are also guys to tack onto the list. Do you happen to know if either of them (or Pelfrey, for that matter) is slated to be in the rotation to start the year (or has a chance of winning a spot in ST)?

I think Linc will start at AA, Miller at AAA. Both will probably need some fine tuning to start the season and then join the big team by July. Unless Linc is lights out in ST and all SF starters are sucking big time which is highly unlikely.

Any idea on whether a Benitez injury/trade would make the Giants do something crazy like bringing up Lincecum to close?

Everything I've read has said that they want Lincecum to start.

Given their recent handling of prospect starters: Foppert, Lowry, J.Williams, Cain, etc. I wouldn't bet against them to bring him up right away if he looks good.

My personal opinion that he will be starting for SF by June/July. Definitely the top rookie I am targeting at my draft this year.

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin

Yoda wrote:If you are putting up Bailey, Hughes and Gallardo, then you most definitely need to put Lincecum, Miller, who are on a faster track to joining their big clubs.

Yup, those are also guys to tack onto the list. Do you happen to know if either of them (or Pelfrey, for that matter) is slated to be in the rotation to start the year (or has a chance of winning a spot in ST)?

I think Linc will start at AA, Miller at AAA. Both will probably need some fine tuning to start the season and then join the big team by July. Unless Linc is lights out in ST and all SF starters are sucking big time which is highly unlikely.

Any idea on whether a Benitez injury/trade would make the Giants do something crazy like bringing up Lincecum to close?

Everything I've read has said that they want Lincecum to start.

Given their recent handling of prospect starters: Foppert, Lowry, J.Williams, Cain, etc. I wouldn't bet against them to bring him up right away if he looks good.

My personal opinion that he will be starting for SF by June/July. Definitely the top rookie I am targeting at my draft this year.

Thanks! I traded up to get him in our prospect draft...a guy with that smooth of mechanics, that deceptive of a delivery and that good of stuff has a really good chance at succeeding right out of the gate. My favorite part of his delivery is the amount of time he keeps his hip loaded before delivering the ball. My wife doesn't even watch baseball that much and that was the first thing she noticed when I showed her the video.

Yoda wrote:If you are putting up Bailey, Hughes and Gallardo, then you most definitely need to put Lincecum, Miller, who are on a faster track to joining their big clubs.

Yup, those are also guys to tack onto the list. Do you happen to know if either of them (or Pelfrey, for that matter) is slated to be in the rotation to start the year (or has a chance of winning a spot in ST)?

I think Linc will start at AA, Miller at AAA. Both will probably need some fine tuning to start the season and then join the big team by July. Unless Linc is lights out in ST and all SF starters are sucking big time which is highly unlikely.

Any idea on whether a Benitez injury/trade would make the Giants do something crazy like bringing up Lincecum to close?

Everything I've read has said that they want Lincecum to start.

Given their recent handling of prospect starters: Foppert, Lowry, J.Williams, Cain, etc. I wouldn't bet against them to bring him up right away if he looks good.

My personal opinion that he will be starting for SF by June/July. Definitely the top rookie I am targeting at my draft this year.

Thanks! I traded up to get him in our prospect draft...a guy with that smooth of mechanics, that deceptive of a delivery and that good of stuff has a really good chance at succeeding right out of the gate. My favorite part of his delivery is the amount of time he keeps his hip loaded before delivering the ball. My wife doesn't even watch baseball that much and that was the first thing she noticed when I showed her the video.

He is extremely flexible. He looks like he doesn't waste an ounce of energy through his wind up and delivery. And his dad has been coaching him since he started pitching so I feel pretty confident that he will stay healthy as a starter contrary to what a lot of people are saying about his size.

He has incredible stuff and numbers to match it everywhere he's pitched. Unless something freakish happens, I can't see how he won't be successful.

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin

Last summer Tristan Cockroft had an interesting article about young pitchers and their numbers through a certain amount of starts. Basically the overall performance of the pitchers increases significantly after about their 40th start.

Targeting guys who will reach that plateau this year is an effective tool. Last year it landed me Chein Ming Wang and Ervin Santana for $11 and $9 in an AL keeper league.

Here's a look at the chart he used. 70 games is another big plateau, but part of that is because a lot of the crappy pitchers don't make it to 70 starts.